Heel construction



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Dec. 20, 1949 s. somoFM N HEEL CONSTRUCTION Filed June 12, 1947 INVENTOR.

STANLEY SOROFMAN u M ITTORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1949 HE L.. Q TEUCTIQN; Stanley:Somfman, Mattapan; Massa llpl atim 1- me 1112, 1 sti lEN tf llfit (ceasin L 3'Claims.

he Pr s nt nven pn rel lv o'sho 0m tion and, more particularly, to; the attachment ofjthe h eel to the shoe Itfis common practice to attach the heelby cementing and nailing In a, method commonly followedjn the art, particularly:in jthefconstruction of ;womens shoes with h lghheels; the outersole is split 'inthe rear secti the outer portion forming aflfip whichis turnddownwardfand cemented to the inner face ofthe y hieelj The otherportion of the sole is cemented ortaclcedtto the-' inner ;sole piece and thereafter trimmed-- around--the=periphery of the hel as. t fi .mres ue r ve i e e c nof the sole to which" theYheeli is commonly ataches; The present invention applies equally welftc halfjliouis whole LQgiSiOI: any-other type of has;

'Di culw se e izme e ien -i e u the heelltightlyanisaielyt=the-s0le v This more 55 1 e e ji t ie se-c r me s h h, heeled shoes, since the heel itself cts as a lever} against the; suporting base and-frnay be loosened or kijiOckdMfi-Fbjaj coniparatively light blow; In the present invention, the heel is permanently at-' tached .in such away, that it is held firmly and securely tothe sole of the shoe, providing suflicient strength and durabilitytqyzithstand excessive forces far above those whichmay ordinarily be Vencounteredaimwear:tandnuse. Ina-the. presen invention, a steel shank set intheshanktportlon of the shoelhasa rearwardltongug ogspring steel if desiredfeii'tending over theheel' section beneathnthe sole. The tongucnwhen unrestrained may. normally.s1ope downwardhonaway zfrom the outerlsurface ofnthesoler, Theheel itselfacarries secured .on: its. .concave top: surface a channel element whichuengageslthe tongue, providing a secure connection both against forward bending and also sideways rocking action, but permits the heel to hang slightly down from the sole. In ad dition to this feature, a screw, which may be of the wood screw type or a machine screw with a fiat head goes through a hole in the tongue and into the top of the heel, drawing the heel up substantially flush with the bottom surface of the sole, making a firm contact between the bottom surface of the sole and the top peripheral surface of the heel. Where a machine screw is used, it may thread into the tongue and by drawing up the tongue hold the heel firmly in position.

The invention will be more fully described in the specification below when taken in connection with the drawings illustrating an embodiment of the same, in which:

Fig: l-shows a side elevation with the heel gnot; joined to the shoe;

Fig; 2 shows a side' elevation; of theheel attached-sc the shoe; h Fig. 3 shows a plan, view;;of-the' top face oi the Fig 4 shows a sectional view taken on the line i -4 orFi-g 3;

Fig; 5 shows a ViW similar to Figure'3"0f a modification Fig. 6*shows a section takemon the line; 6'--6 i -lie Fig. 7 shows a stilhfurther modification in the same relationas Figr-3 Fig. shows a --further modification in the same relation as the view-shown in- Fig; 3;

Fig=-1l shows a view similartoFig; 2, witha fragmentary section. A

In the figures; t-designates the heel; -2 designatesthe shoe in general; -3;"the'-inner sole and dg the outer sole. 'A shank" 5 ;made-;of steel or other resilient -material and attached rigidly' in the -sha'nk; -portionof the--shoe as indicated, is providedwith an ex-tending steel tongue of spring 01 other;- durable;materia1-,= which may be bowed away from the outer surface of theinner sole,- as-indicatedat 1.; The -shank and tongue may be of material other; than steel, although steel is -commonly usedforthispurpose-and provides a. strong and cheapconstruction; The steel tongue I -before being tempered and hardened is drilled and, except in the modification of Figures 12'tc ;15 inclusive;- is threaded'near itsend at *8 to receive the-machine screw- 9 --w-hich passes through the inner sole 3 after the heel has been slid into place.

The heel I, as indicated in Figures 3 and 4, is provided with a plate ID, which has two attaching or fastening sections II and I 2, which are offset from the center section I3 of the plate member. This plate member I0 is attached to the heel by means of wood screws I4 and I I, or in any other suitable manner. The plate is preferably attached to the middle of the face of the heel at the bottom or near the bottom of the concave surface IS. The heel, it should be noted, in the present construction is made concave at the top, with the periphery of the heel substantially in a plane which may be made to coincide with the plane at the lower surface of the heel section of the inner sole. When the tongue 1 is slipped through the channel IS, the heel will be held firmly by the tongue, since the width of the tongue is substantially the same as the width of the slot [6. However, the heel, because of the direction of the slope of the tongue, will be separated somewhat from the lower surface of the sole in the heel section. After the heel is put in place, the screw 9 is threaded into the perforation 8 in the tongue and thereby the tongue is drawn up toward the bottom surface of the sole as indicated in Fig. 11 until the edge or periphery of the heel closes tightly against the sole. This furnishes a firm attachment for the heel, and if there were any tendency previously for the heel to be slightly loose, this overcomes it and anchors the heel firmly against the heel section of the sole. The fact that the steel shank is of spring material and sloped outwardly away from the heel means that a spring tension force is always exerted on the screw 9. This tends to preservev the tight hold or union between the sole and the heel and further permits the heel to be drawn to the shoe against spring tension. v The construction of the attaching channel member may take various forms, three other modifications of which are shown in Figs. 5, 6,

7, 8, 9, and 10. In Figs. and 6, the chamiel member is formed with a C shaped section as indicated in Fig. 6, having two inwardly extending flanges 2i and 22 which lie over the tongue of the shank when the heel is in place. The channel member 29- may be fastened to the heel by means of wood screws 23, and the heel be tapped to form a threaded hole 25 into which the machine screw 9 may mesh, if desired. In this case, the hole 8 is usually tapped large enough so that the screw 9 may pass through it.-

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the retaining plate 26 may be held at its ends by means of wood screws 27 and 28, screwed into the heel l. The plate 26 is provided with two pair of bent arms 29 and 30, forming a slot or channel into which the tongue passes.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the retaining member comprises two screw elements 3| and 32, formed with a wood screw threaded shank 33 and a fiat looped head 34. This screw is screwed into the face of the heel with the looped head positioned in a transverse direction across the heel. Two or more such retaining screwsmay be used with the slots aligned parallel to one another so that the tongue may intermesh with both as the heel is put in place. In these latter modifications, the threaded screws engages the end tongue I of the shank and pulls the'latter up toward it to hold the heel firmly in place. g

In the construction according to the present invention, considerable emphasis is placed upon 4 firmly securing the heel to the shoe. In modern shoe construction, this has proven to be a difficulty. It is essential however, particularly in the modern types of shoes which are used, to have the heel securely attached to the shoe. One reason for this is that with the present use of open heels, the heel of the foot is not always directly positioned over the heel of the shoe and as a result twists and bends and other exceptional stresses are placed upon the heel by the wearer. Further, the present tendency to make the inner sole or the sole directly beneath the heel very thin makes it difficult to fasten the heel securely to the sole. The present invention overcomes these difficulties and provides a construction which is highly useful and yet at the same time cheap as regards construction and labor costs.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a shoe construction of the type described, a heel, means forming a channel positioned at the top surface of the heel, a shank having an extension engaging said channel and retaining means extending through the sole engaging the extension beyond the position of the channel and fastening into the heel,

2. In a shoe construction of the type described, a heel, means forming a channel positioned at the top surface of the heel, a shank having a spring extension extending over the innersole in the heel and having a normal free bend away from the shoe and adapted to engage said channel and retaining means extending through the sole engaging the extension and fastening into the heel to draw the heel against the sole.

3. In a shoe construction of the type described, a heel, means forming a channel positioned at the top surface of the heel, a shank having a spring extension extending over the innersole in the heel and having a normal free bend away from the shoe and adapted to engage said channel, said extension ,beyond the channel having a threaded hole therethrough and a screw set in the inner sole and extending into said threaded hole for drawing the heel fiush agalnst the sole of the shoe.

STANLEY SOROFMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: l

UNITED STATES PATENTS Veling Oct. 17, 1933 

